Chelsea vs Aston Villa

26/12- Just a day post Christmas the Blues would be hosting the team from Aston Villa, this is a tough draw for both the teams as most of their Christmas would be spent practicing. The draw is also very important for both the teams as the 3^rd placed Chelsea would like to cut down on the 4 point gap between them and the 2^nd placed team Manchester United. On the other hand Villa would like to at least maintain its 7^th spot if not improve it on the points table. While Chelsea would have the home advantage they also enter the match on a positive note as they were able to manage a 1-0 away victory at Blackburn this past Sunday. Aston Villa would also be encouraged by the way they held a tough team like Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at home.

 

Chelsea for some weeks now have been playing without Drogba, Ballack and now even John Terry is missing hence they would again rely on Lampard, Kalou and Cole to provide the spark to the game and try to win it for them. Chelsea have been decent in their performance at home this season and scoring against them at home has been very difficult as well but the Blues would also like to score some more goals while playing at home.

 

Aston Villa on the other side have a fairly non depleted side with decent away performances this season, Carew has been one of their in form players and has more often than not broken the deadlock in a match and along with the team’s top scorer this season, Agbonlahor, can be a potential threat to Murinho’s defense. Though the match might be an evenly fought one, beating Chelsea in their den would be kind of difficult and Villa would settle with just a point as well.

 

Prediction: 2-0, Chelsea win